COOPERATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

Intro: On Thursday, NASA said Russia was “moving toward” extending its cooperation on the ISS until 2030, but Rogozin’s statements make this seem unlikely.

Earlier this week, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei safely returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket with two cosmonauts.

Prior to his arrival, there had been concerns about his return home amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, but Roscosmos maintained that it would not strand Vande Hei on the ISS.

NASA says Russia is still ‘moving toward’ extending the space station through 2030

Even as the US and Russia relationship sours

By Loren Grush@lorengrush

Mar 31, 2022, 1:07pm EDT

The Verge |

"Despite the United States and Russia’s deteriorating relationship here on Earth, Russia is still considering extending its participation on the International Space Station through 2030, according to NASA. However, it could be a few months before there is a solid update on Russia’s official stance.

NASA and Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, have been the two largest partners on the International Space Station for the last three decades. The two organizations have agreed to work together on the ISS through 2024, but at the end of last year, the Biden administration announced its intentions to extend the space station program through 2030. Russia has not formally agreed to the extension yet.

Roscosmos’s participation in the extension started to seem unlikely after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. In response to the war, the United States sanctioned Russia’s major industries, which triggered outrage from the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. On Twitter, Rogozin made wild threats about the future of the ISS, insinuating that the station could come crashing down on the United States if Russia withdrew prematurely from the program. He has also hinted at revisiting the partnership with the US in light of the sanctions.

But even after all that bluster, Roscosmos apparently has not given a hard “no” on the extension and may even continue it. “All of our international partners, including Roscosmos, are making progress on moving towards station extension through 2030,” Kathy Lueders, associate administrator of space operations at NASA, said during a press conference today, adding that every partner on the ISS must go through a budget process and receive final government approval before the extension is set. “But we all understand the importance of this continued partnership, even in really, really, really tough times,” Lueders said.

Joel Montalbano, NASA’s ISS program manager, discussed the possible extension in Russia with Roscosmos officials as NASA prepared for the return of astronaut Mark Vande Hei on a Russian Soyuz rocket this week. “At the program level, we continue discussions and continue working towards 2030,” Dana Weigel, deputy manager of NASA’s International Space Station program, said during the press conference. “They touched on the subject of when Joel Montalbano was in Russia, and no changes at all to the plan.”

Weigel noted that NASA expects to get its next big update on extension plans in late April or early May. It’s hard to know what state Russia and the United States’ relationship will be in by that point, but for now, there is the possibility the countries’ partnership in space could continue."

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• Russia says it will suspend ISS cooperation until sanctions are lifted 

Russia says it will suspend ISS cooperation until sanctions are lifted

By Emma Roth Updated Apr 2, 2022, 4:49pm EDT

The Verge |

Roscosmos head says cooperation is only possible with the ‘lifting of illegal sanctions’

"Russia says it will end cooperation with other nations on the International Space Station until the sanctions put on the country are lifted. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, announced in a thread on Twitter that the “restoration of normal relations between partners” on the ISS and other projects is only possible with the “complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions.”

In translated versions of his tweets, Rogozin says he appealed the sanctions in letters to NASA, the European Space Agency, as well as the Canadian Space Agency. Rogozin also posted images of what appears to be each country’s response — the CSA confirmed the letter’s authenticity to The Verge but declined to comment any further. The Verge also reached out to NASA and the ESA but didn’t immediately hear back.

“The U.S. continues to support international government space cooperations, especially those activities associated with operating the ISS with Russia, Canada, Europe, and Japan,” the letter signed by NASA administrator Bill Nelson reads. “New and existing U.S. export control measures continue to allow cooperation between the U.S. and Russia to ensure continued safe operations of the ISS.”

. . .

“The position of our partners is clear: the sanctions will not be lifted,” Rogozin says. “The purpose of the sanctions is to kill the Russian economy, plunge our people into despair and hunger, and bring our country to its knees.” Rogozin adds that Roscosmos will soon determine a date on when to halt Russia’s involvement with the ISS, which will then be reported to Russian government officials.

Rogozin reacted strongly to the sanctions imposed by President Joe Biden in February, making an insinuation that the space station could come crashing down to Earth without Russia’s involvement. As my colleague Loren Grush points out, Russia’s withdrawal from the station has the potential to do real harm, as NASA relies on Russia to maintain the ISS’s position and orientation in space."